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Newbies Start Here – Make Money Online Resources for the Affiliate Marketing Beginner
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Feb
8
Before you join an affiliate program, there are a few questions that you should ask.
Is there a cost to join? Nearly all affiliate programs in today’s market are absolutely free. Especially when first starting out and funds are limited, there is no reason that you would need to pay in order to join an affiliate program.
When and how often are commission checks issued? Each company will have its own rules. The two most common options are once a month or on the 1st and 15th of the month. Check to make sure you understand any payout restrictions based on a minimum amount of earned commissions.
How many hits does it take to get a sale – the hit/sale ratio? This factor is highly significant because this will tell you how many hits you must get you can earn a commission from the transaction.
How will they track the referrals from your site and for how long will they stay in the system? You want to have confidence that the affiliate company has a solid mechanism for tracking the people that you refer to their program or product. After all, these statistics determine whether you get credit for the sale. The length of time that those people stay in the system as your referral is also important because some visitors don’t buy on the first visit but could come back later and make a purchase. You want to get credit for the subsequent sale if possible.
What type of statistics will the program provide? You want online real-time detailed stats. You will be most interested in knowing the number of impressions, hits and sales generated from your affiliate site.
Does the affiliate program provide other incentives? Do they pay for impressions or hits or only for sales? Getting paid for hits or impressions will increase your earnings.
How much can you find out about the merchant? Is it a solid company? Are they offering quality products? Do they provide good customer service? Do they have an affiliate manager who is easy to reach?
Does the company pay on one or two levels or tiers? A single tier plan only for the sales that you personally generate. A two tier program pays you commission for your transactions as well as a smaller commission on transactions generated by affiliates that you refer to the program.
Lastly, what is the commission rate? You can usually get up to 75% for digital products. Companies that sell physical products are more likely to pay commissions in 5% – 20% range. Hits may bring .01% – .05%.
Take the time to complete your due diligence before choosing an affiliate program. Make sure that the company and the terms that they offer are suitable for your situation.
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Feb
8
Generating Targeted Traffic for Your Affiliate Offer
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Now that you have chosen your affiliate product or service, you need to direct traffic to your sales pages. But you can’t be satisfied with just any general non-targeted traffic. You need prospects who will be interested in the product or service that you are marketing.
Here are a few ways to generate targeted traffic to your affiliate link.
Forums – Become an active participant in a forum related to your niche. Put a link to your sales page in your signature if the forum rules permit it. Spamming the forum is not an option. Add value to the forum by joining in debates and answering questions. People may even start to recognize you as an expert on your chosen topic. If the forum members like your style, the quality of your posts or even the promotional text in your signature you can generate targeted traffic without spending a dime.
E-zines – Advertising in e-zines is an ideal way to generate targeted traffic because the readers are already interested in your niche. Just be aware that not all ezine ads produce good results so start slowly with a new ezine until you can determine that it is a winner.
Newsletters – Start your own newsletter and build a list of targeted prospects. As the size of your list grows, you may want to consider selling advertising space to other advertisers.
E-books – Give away e-books or special reports. People like to receive things for free. Just make sure that you are giving them something that they will appreciate. Make sure that you link back to your site from within the e-book. If the information is really useful, the books may be shared with other people creating a viral effect.
PPC – Pay per click is the quickest way to generate targeted traffic but it will cost you money. If you can write interesting ads and select your keywords carefully, you can make a positive return on your investment. Start slowly as it is easy to spend a lot of money with no return.
Using a combination of these techniques can help to increase the amount of targeted traffic to your site. The more traffic, the more likely that you will have a profitable campaign.
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